


Bowling for Cerberus

by Flynne



Series: Garviel Shepard [17]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Gen, idiot cinnamon roll bros, in a parallel universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 18:18:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17027637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flynne/pseuds/Flynne
Summary: Pinned down by Cerberus commandos, Shepard lets his brother talk him into an unconventional battle maneuver. It's the best bad idea he's ever had.





	Bowling for Cerberus

**Author's Note:**

> Soldier Garviel Shepard and his brother, Adept Akil Shepard (belonging to Skits) exist in two parallel Mass Effect universes: one where Garv is the main Commander Shepard, and one where Akil is. In each universe, the brother who is not the main Commander Shepard is made a Spectre during ME2, reunites with his brother during Shepard's house arrest between ME2 and ME3, and joins the crew of the Normandy for the events of ME3. 
> 
> This story features Commander Akil Shepard with Garv as his fellow crewmember.

Garv pitched forward as a shotgun blast walloped against his shields, hurling himself behind the shattered stone wall in a barely-controlled dive. Akil grabbed his arm to yank him into cover, then released him to shoulder his Black Widow.

He couldn’t see where Garrus and Tali had taken cover, but Garrus’ voice crackled over the comms: “Get ready, Shepard!” - and the harsh sparking sound of overloaded shields was swallowed by the crack of the Widow as Akil took out the unfortunate Cerberus operative that Garrus had just targeted. Akil fired again, but ducked back behind the wall before the echo of the shot had faded, mouth thinning. “They’ve formed a shield wall.“

Garv slammed a fresh thermal clip into his assault rifle and risked a glance up and over, expression darkening as he saw the shock troops clustering together behind the Guardian shields. Akil had led the surgical strike to reclaim the Alliance base from Cerberus control, but the last remaining squad was putting up fierce resistance. Quarian profanity rang in his ears as Tali watched her shotgun blast impact uselessly against the scuffed white armor.

“Where did you learn language like that?” Garrus asked.

“Where did  _you_ learn it?” Tali shot back.

“From you, apparently,” came the dry retort. Garv snickered as he heard Tali’s answering mutter of  _“Bosh’tet”_.

Akil tried to line up another shot but ducked down almost immediately as bullets kicked up a spray of stone chips from the top of the wall. “I can’t get a clear shot through their eye-slits,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the gunfire. “They’ve learned! I need ideas!”

Garv risked one more glance over the wall. The overlapping shields were blocking all firing angles, and the soldiers had resisted Akil’s attempts to pull them away from cover. They were advancing in a solid block, and nothing could punch through that shield wall short of a Mako cannon or a battering ram…

His eyes went wide as a thought came to him. “Akil…Throw me.”

Akil blinked and stared, annoyance evaporating in his surprise. “Wait, what?”

Garv clapped his assault rifle into its holster on his back to free his hands, giving his head a sharp nod in the direction of the cluster of Cerberus soldiers. “Throw me!”

Akil looked over the wall as well, then gave Garv a calculating look. “How are your shields?”

Garv started to grin. “They’re good!”

“Shepard!” Tali exclaimed. “You’re not  _actually_ going to - ”

Akil ignored her. He took one last look, calculating angles and trajectories, then set down his rifle. “Garrus, Tali, hold your fire!” He rose to one knee and lifted his hands. A shimmering blue bubble snapped into place around Garv as Akil created a barrier. Garv hardly had time to register the weightless tingling sensation of the mass effect shield before Akil lifted him into the air and sent him rocketing across the open ground toward the Cerberus troops.

Garv wrenched his body around in midair, bracing himself to lead with his shoulder. He had just enough time to hear one of the Cerberus troopers yelp  _“What the fu-!!”_  before he crashed into the riot shields. Metal clattered and flashes of blue-white biotic lightning crackled as Akil’s barrier bore the brunt of the impact. White-armored soldiers went flying. Garv hit the ground hard enough to send sparks shooting across his vision, but rolled with the impact, activating his omni-blade before he’d stopped tumbling. He gathered his limbs beneath him and launched himself at the nearest shock trooper, punching his blade through the armored torso and dropping the man before he’d had a chance to right himself. Bullets sparked off his shields from behind, but he heard the familiar crack of the Widow and the soldier crumpled with a spray of red patterning his scuffed helmet.

Garv kept fighting, taking down the Cerberus soldiers with fists and omni-blade. Any survivors left in his wake were picked off by Akil. In less than a minute, Garv was standing in a circle of bodies and scattered shields. He staggered a little as he turned to wave back at Akil, dizzy from the speed and impact, but unhurt. Garrus and Tali broke cover and started jogging down toward them.

Akil vaulted over the wall and hurried over. “You’re all right?” he asked.

Garv popped the seals on his helmet and tugged it off. He winced a little as the residual static from the touch of biotics crackled in his hair, but grinned enthusiastically down at his brother. “We should’ve tried that a long time ago!”

Akil shook his head, the twitch of the corner of his mouth giving away the smile he was holding back. “Don’t get used to it. That is not going to become a standard battle tactic.”

Garv’s grin took on an unrepentantly teasing slant. “It worked, didn’t it?”

That  _did_ get Akil to crack a smile, but he still rolled his eyes as he answered, “It did, but I’m still not going to let those become your famous last words.”

“I can’t believe it worked,” Garrus said, nudging a dead Cerberus soldier with his foot.

“ _I_ can’t believe you  _tried_ it!” Tali said. “What were you thinking?”

“Garviel had a good idea,” Akil said, a bit defensively. Tali’s luminous eyes squinted at him through her faceplate. “…Or what seemed like a good idea. At the time.”

“He got annoyed,” Garv said cheerfully. “Couldn’t hit his headshots. And he’s annoyed that he  _got_ annoyed.”

“There was an obstacle,” Akil said, squaring his shoulders with dignity. “I removed it.”

“We’re definitely doing it again,” Garv said. He stepped closer to Tali when she gestured to him and stooped so she could pat his static-wild hair down into some semblance of order.

_“Maybe,”_  Akil said.

“ _Definitely_ maybe.”

“We should get moving,” Garrus said, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice at Akil’s look of consternation. “Find you a button to push, Shepard.”

“Or you could just throw Garv at it,” Tali said casually, ejecting a spent thermal clip from her shotgun.

“Garviel pushes enough buttons all on his own,” Akil deadpanned, ignoring Garv’s amused snort. He tilted his head in the direction of their drop zone. “We’re done here. I’ll let Cortez know we’re ready for pickup.”

“The real question,” Garv said, falling in step beside Akil, “is whether or not you’re going to tell Grunt about your new trick. Because I’m pretty sure he’s gonna want in.”

“It’s  _your_ new trick,” Akil replied. “Now put your helmet back on.”

“But Tali just fixed my hair.” Silence and a flat look were his only reply. He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dad.” He replaced his helmet, clomping along next to Akil while Garrus and Tali walked ahead. Tali held out a stack of datapads they’d confiscated from the base, handing half to Garrus as they began sorting through them. “Admit it, Aki,” Garv said in a low voice, “that was fun.”

Akil said nothing, but the fleeting grin, quickly hidden, was answer enough.


End file.
